Sheet-feeding apparatus.



..v J. CASEY.

SHEET fmmm APPARATUS. APPLIUATIOH FILED APR. e. 1908. 898,831. Patented Sept. 15,1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEBT 1.

WITNEssEs.- INVENTOR) E. J. CASEY.

SHEET FEBDING APPARATUS,

APPLICATIOK rlLnn 1112.6, 1968.

Patented Sept. 15, 1908 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

l WITNEssEs: {Vh INVEN'TJg, ggf 'il dwmi'rfwq/ W, n@

, I BY /f i!" ff I! ATTORNEY. l

UNITED sTATEs EDWARD J. CASEY, l? SPRNGFH'LLD, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHEET-FEEDIHG APPARATUS.

Sp ecitcation of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

Application led April 6, 1908. Serial No. 425,406.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it. known that 1, Enwann J. (.L-xsEY, a citizen 0f the United States of America, and resident of Springfield, in the 'county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Sheet-Feeding A umratuses, of which the following is a full, cllear, and exact description. i

The apparatus or mechanism constituting the present invention has been provided and employed ns a means for feeding sheets directly aft er being taken from a printing ma chine and before the impressions are dry into a bronzing machine for the passage of the sheets therethrough for receiving bronze powder which becomes adherent to and is nirnished on the freshly printed portions of the sheet.

lieretofore, generally, the feeding in of the freshly printed sheets to the bronzing machine has required extreme. care on thc part. of the attendant in order that the sheets be squared and properly positioned on a feed board or table preparatory to being slid or moved to be taxen by the revoluble grip er included in the bronzing machine. This ms required the. services of a feeder additional to the ene running the printing press.

By the provision of the present sheet feeding devices, it becomes possible and convenient for the. pressman to take out the printed sheets from the printing press and lay them more or less at random on the feeder for the bronzirg machine, which feeder is 'iperative to square the sheets before theyare permitted to be conveyed into the bronzing machine, and thus the requirement of a person additional to the. pressman for feeding the sheets to the bron/,intr machine is dispensed with.

The invention consists in the combination with a ilurality of endless feed-ta ies, onto which the n'inted sheets may be laid, one at a time, an( by which they are ferwardly progressed to Vthe bronzing machine, of one. or more movable steps for temporarily arresting each sheet, a pair of .ppositely located straight, parallel, and lon; ;itudiiallav ranging,

'and transversely movable sheet squaring members, and means for imparting approachand receding movements to said squat-ing members.

The invention furthermore consists in the combinations or arrangements of parts, and the, construction of certain of the parts, all substantially as hereinafter fully descrilwd nl conjunction with the accompanying drawings and set forth in the claims.

ln the drawings :l"igure 1 is a plan View of the sheet feeding apparatus shown as arranged for coperation with a bronzing machim'; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.; Figli is a sectional elevation of parts as taken on line 3-3, Fig'. l.

ln the drawings,YL v A represent the opposite side nprights of the frame for su )port-5 ing the endless feed tapes u u whicn run around forwardly and rcarv.'ardly located transverse. rolls ll and (l supported by such frame, which latter is arranged in proximity to a bronzing machine l), the nature and construction of which are not necessarily to be. described, although it may be stated that :me description of bronzing machine in conjunction with which the present apparat-us may advantageously bc employed, is illustrated and describedin Letters Patent dated Nov. l, i898, No. 615,44t, and embodying iu a casing, within which the printed sheets to be bronzed are fed, a cylinder carrying revolubly a gripper for engaging the leading end ot each sheet and for carrying the, sheet around on the cylinder wherebyr it is subjet-.ted to the bronze supplying, butliug and surplus bronze. removing devices; and iu Fig. l, in dotted lines 1) represent-s the revs olublc cylinder, and d' represents the locution of the sheet gripper rcvoluble with the cylinder.

The main shaft of the bronzing machine is taken advantage of as a. source of power from which the various movable parts of my )resent apparatus are. prinnirily driven,-it being perceived that the forward tapeI roll Il has a pulley I) thereon driven by a belt'b2 from pulley b on the bronzing machine main shaft, D?.

e e represent. movable tin-gers which are perimlically positioned for temporarily arresting each sheet. in its travei on the feed tape so that such sheet may be straightcned, that is, rectified as to its position so that its opposite longitudinal edges are truly longitudinal of (he machine, und, of course, at right angles to the axis of the carnving drum in the bronzing machine; and l'l ll representa pair of oppositely located st raight.. parallel longitudinally ranging and oppositely transversely movable. sheet .sfpiaring members which may have the forni of boards or plates with their edges uppermost..

l" :um F: represent a pair of bars extending horizontally and transversel across the machine, one somewhat forwardY of the other and supported and guided in and through guide ways f f therefor at opposite sides of the machine frame at or near the top thereof. The lon itudinally ranging squarmg board or inem er E which is towards one side of 'the machine frame is adjnstably secured to the rearward one F2 of said bars whereby it may be positioned horizontally and transversely for its traverses, bodily, within diflerent regions or zones in the width ofthe. feed'- ing apparatus, and such member has by an aperture g therethrough a supporting and guiding engagement on the forward one of the bars F and similarly but in a relatively opposite manner the other squaring member which is towards the' other side of the machine. is adjustably connected with the orward bar l? and has by the aperture a there through a supporting and guiding engagement with the rearward bar FZ. The adjustment of each straightening or squaring member E along the length of the bar to which it isY connected is atlected by making the member with an aperture h, whereby it cl sely lits the bar, and providing a fastening s rew 'i which, when loosened, .caves the member to be slid inward or out\vard,and whiein.

when set against. the bar, holds the member E rigidly on, and to be moved in unison with, 'the bar` The bars F and F have their endwise movements transversely of the machine imiI parted simultaneously n1 opposite directions for causing the straightening or squ aring members to approach and recede, by means as follows: G represents a T-shaped lever swinging or oscillating on a horizontal plane, about the pivot j at the junction of the a ined arms 7c k, which arms have engagements, by

in and slot, with the ends of the slidable bars F2; m re resents a slide bar sup orted and guided on t .e side ofthe machine 1p1-ame, and by the extension mz thereof engaging the third arm k2 of the T-shaped lever. The end wise movement of the slide bar mis imparted in one direction by the cam n which is mounted cn any suitable revoluble shaft.` such, in the present instance as the main shaft of the bronzing machine, while the opposite endwise movement of the slide bar fm, is .imparted by the retracting spring o.

The stop ngers e e for temporarily arresting the sheet on the feed tapes are made as substantially radially projecting fingers on a rock shaft J entendingr from side to side of the machine forward of the squaring boards E E and adapted to be swung up, .as shown in the drawings between the courses of the ta es and above the level of the upper tapes, an to be swung to out of the way positions below the plane of the sheet feed on the up er tapes to leave the course and feeding of t e sheets unobstructed. The said rock-shaft J is actul ated by a cam and lever motion as followsts re resents a lever arm or crank on the rock sha t; t representsthe revoluble cam; Iu represents a thrust rod endwise forced'in one direction by the cam and retracted by the spring o; w represents an elbow, or two-armed lever, to one arm of which the thrust rod has' a connection and to the other arm of which one end of a link is connected, the-latter by its other end being connected with the roc shaft lever arm s. y

Preparatory for a run of printed sheets of a given'widtli on this fee-ding apparatus and to the bronzing machinev the squaring boards E are adjusted on their res ective transversely slidable carryingY bars F2 so that in their most approached relations thelyhave adistance of separation the 'same as t e width of the sheets to be fed. The pres'sma-n taking' taking printed sheets one at a time from the press has merely to lay them only approximately straight on the feed tapes, timing the deposit of each sheet with the separation of the boards E E; the sheet carried forward by the tapes will be intercepted by the stop fingers ee just long enough to permit the appreaching boards E E to truly square or straighten the sheet after which, the stop lingers swinging forwardlyand downwardly ,out of the way the sheet proceeds on the tapes and is fed into theibronzing machine.

-y y represent a pair of vdisks which are' mounted to bear, gravit-atively, on the u per forward portion of the forward tape-roll (or upon the tapes running thercaround), it be- .ing perceived that the axis of thc disks or. rolls y y is above and slightly forward of the axis of the tape-carrying rol.'v B; and by this provision the leading end of cach sheet is slightly downwardly deflected so as to ling the eriphery of the cylinder-iii the bronzing mac line and to thereby insure by such proximity of the sheet to the cylinder the engagement of the sheet by the cylinder carried gripper or gri pers.

though t 1s feeding apparatus has been primarily designed and used in conjunction with a bronzing machine, the invention is not limited in this respect and may be employedas a sheet straightening or squaring and feeding apparatus for general use.

I claim1- 1. The combination with a plurality of endless feed tapes, of one or more movableaway from the planepf sheet feed, a pair of horizontal, transversely movable bars, a

longitudinally ranging sheet squaring member towards one side of the machine and secured to one of said bars and having a free guiding engagement with thesother of said bars, a second longitudinally ranging sheet squarhig member towards t 1e other side 9E the machine, secured to the other one of said bars, and having a free guiding engagementl with the iirst squaring member carrying bar, and means for impart-ing reciprocatory movements to said bars in reverse directions transversely of the line ot tape feed.

2. The combination with a fratrie having V forwardly and rearwardly located bar guides at the opposite side members thereof7 and a plurality of leed tapes mounted to run longitudinally between`the frame sides, of a pair of bars extending across the iizachine movable through said guides and having their locations one forward of the other relatively i', ranging squaring member towards one side ot the frame, adjust-ably secured to the rearward one of said bars and having by an aperturel therethrough a'supporting andV guiding enga gement, on the forward bar, and a second squaring member towards the other side of the frame connected with the forward bar and having an aperture therethrough, a supporting and guiding engagementwitli the rearward bar, an inteimedia'rel)v pivoted lever with which th'e ends of said bars are engaged and means for imparting a rocking movement to said lever lor reciprocating the bars and squaring members simultaneously in reverse directions. :0 3. ln a sheet feeding mechanism, the oombination with ay plurality ot endless jfeedtapes, of one or more movable stops for temporaril)Y arresting each sheet in its travel on the leed tapes, a pair of oppositelgy located straight, parallel, 'longitudinally ranging, and transversely iiovable sheet squaring members, a transvlrsely arranged pair of bars, on each oi whidh one only of said squaring members is secured, a pivotod T-shapc-.d lever with the. opposite arms of which said bars are engaged, a slide-bar engaging the third arm of said Tssliaped lever, a rotatable c am for moving said slide bar in one direction, and :i spring lor retracting said slide lill. i i

Ll. In a sheet lier-ding mechanism, the combination with a plurality of endless feedtapes. onto whilrh .the sheets may be laid, one at a. time,l and b v which they are forwardly progressed, of a transverse rock shaft bettveen the hpp'er and low,er courses ot' the A-tapes having :t plurality ofsubstantially radially projecting stop lingers, for temporarily arresting'eaeh sheet in its travel on the feed tapes; means for imparting rocking moveiiientsio said linger carrying roekshaft, a pair of op ipsitelv located straiglit, parallel, longitudinally ranging, and transversely Eil movable sheet squaring members, to the rear of said stop fingers, and means lor imparting transverse approaching and receding move'- nients to said squaring member".

5. In a sheet feeding mechanism, the conibina-tion with a pluralit)v of feed-tapes, of a transverse rock .shaft between the upper and lower courses of the tapes, having a p uralitj of substantially radially projecting stop lingers, and provided witha lever arm, a rotatable cam, a thrust-rod actuated thereby, a

pivoted lever to which said thrust. rod is conn neeted, anda link connecting said lever, and to the line ol' tape feed, a longitudinally said rock shalt lever arm, a pair of oppositely located straight, parallel, longitudinailsv ranging, and transversely movable sheet squaring members, to the rear of said stop lingers. and means loi imparting transverse apprmiehing and receding movements to said sipzaring members.

G. ln a sheetl feeding mechanism, the come binatien with a plurality of endless feed tapes onto which the sheets may be successively laid and by which the)v are forwardly progressed, oi: one or more movable st-ops .or temporarily arresting each sheet in its travel on the tapes, a. pair of oppositely located parallel longitudinally ranging and transversely movable sheet. squafring menibers, means for imparting transverse approaching and receding movements to said squaringr members, and means located at the forward ends ot the teed tapes for imparting a .lownwarddelection to the leading end portions of tlie slieetsfor the purpose explained.

7. ln a sheet. feeding mechanism, the combination with a iltiraliL-y of endless feed ta ies and forwardly` and rearwardly located rolls around which the tapes are rnn, of one or more movable stops for temporarily arresting each sheet in its t `avel on the tapes, a. pair of oppositely located parallel longitudi nally ranging .and transversely movable sheet squaring members, means for imparting transverse a )preaching and receding movements to said squaring members, and a roller yieldinglv bearing on the upper forward portion of the forward tape-ro l causing a downward delict-tion of the leading portion of the forwardly fed sheet- Signed by me at Springfield, Mass., in presence 'of two subscribing witnesses.

EDYARD J. CASE Y vitnessesz Wn. S. BnLLows, G. R. DiciscoLL. 

